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Movies / On DVD / The Good Shepherd
The Good Shepherd

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The Good Shepherd (2006)

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Reviews Counted:161

Fresh:90

Rotten:71

Average Rating:6.1/10

Consensus: This fictitious CIA origin film is an overlong, tedious effort that leaves viewers with more questions than answers.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for some violence, sexuality and language

Runtime: 2 hrs 48 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:23-02-2007

Synopsis: With THE GOOD SHEPHERD, Robert De Niro (A BRONX TALE) makes an ambitious return to the director's chair. A labor of love for Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth (FORREST GUMP), the film tells an... With THE GOOD SHEPHERD, Robert De Niro (A BRONX TALE) makes an ambitious return to the director's chair. A labor of love for Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth (FORREST GUMP), the film tells an epic, fictionalized account of how the Central Intelligence Agency was born. Matt Damon plays Edward Wilson, a reserved young man who graduated from Yale in the late 1930s. His membership in the exclusive, hidden Skull and Bones society led him away from poetry and into a relationship with the federal government, who recruited him to help them on several covert operations. Roth's script alternates between Wilson's gradual emergence as a genuine government operative in the early 1940s and the infamous Bay of Pigs conflict in the early 1960s. Along the way, he has a sweet romance with a pretty deaf girl (a sparkling Tammy Blanchard) and ends up marrying the woman he impregnates (Angelina Jolie) out of a strong sense of duty. Throughout the film, the emergence of a mysterious tape haunts Wilson, who is determined to uncover the truth behind a leak in his secret organization. Production designer Jeannine Claudia Oppewall (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN) and costume designer Ann Roth (THE ENGLISH PATIENT, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY) faithfully recreate these earlier periods in American history, while the imagery of Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Richardson (J.F.K., THE AVIATOR) casts a warm, stately glow upon De Niro's assembled cast of luminaries (including Alec Baldwin, Michael Gambon, William Hurt, Billy Crudup, and Joe Pesci). The result is a production that recalls Francis Ford Coppola's THE CONVERSATION and Steven Spielberg's MUNICH. [More]

Starring: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Joe Pesci, John Turturro

Starring: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Joe Pesci, John Turturro, Keir Dullea, Alec Baldwin, Michael Gambon, Billy Crudup, William Hurt, Liya Kebede, Gabriel Macht, Jason Patric, Eddie Redmayne, Sándor Técsy

Director: Robert De Niro

Director: Robert De Niro
Producer: Jane Rosenthal
Studio: Universal Pictures

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for The Good Shepherd

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Better than any of the feature film versions of John le Carre's novels and nearly as good as the TV mini-series based on Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
02/26/07
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

It's a film for fans of John Le Carre, rather than Ian Fleming.

Full Review Source: Independent on Sunday | comment Comment
02/26/07
Nicholas Barber
Nicholas Barber
Independent on Sunday

Never manages to create a gripping strand to hold our attention.

Full Review Source: Sunday Times (UK) | comment Comment
02/26/07
Edward Porter
Edward Porter
Sunday Times (UK)

Not a film everyone will like. But those who do will appreciate De Niro's insistence on accurate detail.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
02/23/07
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

165 minutes of my life I will never get back, damn it. This is one shepherd that’s lost control of its flock.

Full Review Source: thelondonpaper | comment Comment
02/23/07
Stuart McGurk
Stuart McGurk
thelondonpaper

De Niro deserves credit for the broad, ambitious canvas he's worked on, but his movie is just as mechanical and humourless as his protagonist.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
02/23/07
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

On paper this had “belter” written all over it. Sadly, Damon’s lifeless performance in the lead role failed to keep me gripped throughout the movie’s bum-numbing 167 minutes.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
02/23/07
Johnny Vaughan
Johnny Vaughan
Sun Online

Touches are just enough to earn The Good Shepherd a third star. But De Niro might want to stick to acting in future.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
02/23/07
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

A wan, muted film that is never less than interesting, but rarely more than that either.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
02/23/07
Sukhdev Sandhu
Sukhdev Sandhu
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's well built but the Matt Damon character remains blank and too young to be convincing. It's solid, but like Damon himself it's a bit dull.

Full Review Source: BBC Radio Five Live | comment Comment
02/23/07
Mark Kermode
Mark Kermode
BBC Radio Five Live
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A very dark, murky film, resentfully critical of the dysfunctional CIA family.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
02/23/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Damon's shirts are always crisp, but he has the charisma of a perfectly groomed corpse.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
02/23/07
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A serious film about a seriously relevant subject that, despite its flaws, fulfils much of its over-reaching ambition.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
02/23/07
Billy Mowbray
Billy Mowbray
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Polished spy drama is a classy affair.

Full Review Source: Sunday Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
02/22/07
Mark Adams
Mark Adams
Sunday Mirror [UK]

De Niro's second film features terrific performances and several impressive scenes, but he appears to have forgotten to hire an editor.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
02/22/07
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Well-crafted and well-acted, but ever-so-slightly worthy and strangely unaffecting. Given the track record of the CIA, it probably ought to be angrier.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
02/22/07
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Intelligent, yes, politically astute, stuffed to the gills with A-list acting talent (overstuffed in fact, there are cameos a go-go), but too frozen with a sense of its own seriousness to grip.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
02/20/07
Paul Arendt
Paul Arendt
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film’s watchable enough if you’re indulgent of its flaws but at 167 minutes it does tax the patience.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/15/07
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Overlong and a little overstuffed, but De Niro’s ambitious tale of the CIA’s Cold War genesis is still worthy, smart and relevant.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
02/14/07
Jeff Dawson
Jeff Dawson
Total Film

This expertly made film is fascinating and gripping. And it's also so long that it feels like an entire TV series on DVD.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
12/30/06
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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